Dolphins Sleep With One Eye Open

ILLUSTRATION

Did you know that dolphins sleep with one eye open? It’s true.

They do so because they can only ever let one side of their brain sleep at a time. When the left side of the brain sleeps, the right eye will close, and vice versa. This isn’t some weird, ambidextrous stunt they’re pulling. Rather, it’s because they must always remain partially conscious to remind themselves to breathe.

You see, dolphins, unlike most sea creatures, are not fish. They are mammals. As such, they need to surface regularly to take in air. And for dolphins, breathing is not automatic or reflexive the way it is for humans. “In other words,” say the experts at us.whales.org, “dolphins have to actively decide when to breathe, … [They] alternate which half of the brain is sleeping periodically so that they can get the rest they need without ever losing consciousness.”

If a dolphin were ever to go into deep, full-brain, total unconscious sleep, they would simply suffocate or drown.

APPLICATION

Likewise, believers can't afford to be lulled to sleep by the world but must remain alert, always ready for the Lord's return. We must keep one eye on the sky for the return of our Lord and Savior.

"But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation" (1Thessalonians 5:4-8, NLT).

- Precept Austin